


Missing

by ToxicLaughter



Category: God of War
Genre: Freya Being a Good Mom Figure, Gen, It's just an AU where Atreus gets kidnapped, Kidnapping, Kratos Being a Good Dad, Multichapter, That's it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14785200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicLaughter/pseuds/ToxicLaughter
Summary: Kratos, war hero with more than enough kills on his rap sheet, was not the soft kind of caregiver a child needed. But he was all Atreus had. So he had to do his best, to take care of his son no matter what. Faye had been the softer parent, but he couldn’t dwell on her any longer. He needed to focus. He needed to find his son. “Atreus!"





	1. Funerals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was playing some of the side quests in the game and every time Kratos would shout for Atreus to follow or to come to him so he knew where he was, all I could imagine was a parent at a park who’s kid just disappeared. And that’s where the inspiration for this fic came from. Hope you guys enjoy. P.S. They live in America b/c that’s where I live and I don’t want to take any crazy shots in the dark about foreign police systems.

Winter had come and gone, bringing along snow, and taking with it Atreus’ mother. She had fallen ill years prior, when Atreus had only barely learned to walk, and held him close as she told him what would happen. He just didn’t think it would come so soon. December brought her death and January brought her funeral.

The funeral was bare, all of Faye’s family having perished before Atreus was born and his father’s family but a mystery to him. The priest read from a scripture as the casket was laid to rest, his father holding onto his shoulder as if he might leap onto the coffin and dig for his mother. But he knew she was gone. Knew he had to accept that. 

“Find your way home,” his father’s resonant voice whispered. “You are free.” Atreus wiped away a tear, mimicking his father’s step backwards, away from the grave. He turned away from his mother, one last time. His father’s hand lifted away from his shoulder, moving instead to stop him from walking and forcing him to look at his eyes. 

Atreus wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Maybe a stern talking to about how it was time he grew up, now with his mother gone he’d be mostly be on his own. Or maybe some advice about how to handle loss. He didn’t expect his father to kneel down next to him and say what he said that January day.

“It is okay to be sad. For a time. But she would want us to move on.”

Atreus nodded, looking to his feet as they rustled the snow by his toes. “I know.”

“Good. Let’s go home.”

The car was suffocated in silence, Atreus unable to find the words he needed to say. So, he decided on none. His father apparently felt the same way.

>>>>><<<<<

Come the last snow in April things were pretty much back to normal. Besides the ever-looming absence of his mother, he couldn’t really tell the difference in day to day life. He goes to school, comes home, eats dinner with his father, does his homework, and repeats the following day. But school is coming to an end in less than a month and he’s not sure how he’s supposed to occupy his time while his father is away during the day.

The pamphlets for summer camps are less than exciting, all of them promising a ‘safe’ and ‘wholesome outdoor’ experience. He didn’t care about safe! He wanted to have fun! Wanted to skin his knees and jump out of trees and maybe break a bone or two. The last thing he wanted to do was be put in safety gear and sat on a horse.

“Boy!” He jumped in his bed, unaware that his father was even home, and set the pamphlets down on his bedside table. 

Peaking his head out of his door he shouted back. “What?” No answer. He groaned, slouching and stomping down the stairs.

Over the past few months Kratos had turned out to be rather good at parenting. He wasn’t the best at it, Atreus wouldn’t go that far, but he was pretty good. He had the whole ‘I’m disappointed with you’ look down. And he was never one to _not_ dish out harsh but true advice.

Entering the kitchen with caution, Atreus looked around for the tall bald man, confused to find him nowhere in sight. He looked to the living room, then peaked his head in the basement (only for a short time, the cool breeze and pitch blackness gave him the creeps) before heading back to the kitchen. “Father!” He called, crossing his arms.

“Outside!” 

Atreus headed for the backdoor, peaking his head out to find his father sitting on a lawn chair staring at the sky. He walked up to stand beside him, staring at the same part of the sky as his father. Atreus didn’t see anything. “What’d you need?”

“Here.” Kratos carefully kicked a ball out from under his feet. Atreus picked it up.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a soccer ball.”

“I-I know what it is father, I’m just confused as to why you have it.”

“Normally you’d spend your summer holiday hunting with your mother, but with recent events,” _her death_ , Atreus thought. “That can’t happen. But I read on the internet that soccer is good for children.” Atreus couldn’t help the smile as he listened to his father awkwardly explain how and why he decided to put him on a summer soccer team. 

He dropped the ball to his feet and kicked it around a few times. “Okay, cool that sounds cool. When’s the first practice?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Awesome! Sounds fun. I’ve never really been into soccer but you’re pretty competitive, so I must have some of that in me too.” Kratos hummed, not sparing a glance towards his son. Atreus kicked the soccer ball a few feet away and onto the grass. He had seen a few movies about soccer and he figured it couldn’t be that hard. 

He was proven wrong when he had aimed to kick the ball forward and instead sent it flying into the chain fence at his right. He frowned. Okay so maybe soccer was harder than it looked.

>>>>><<<<<

The uniform was gray and gold mesh shirt and shorts. The shoes his father had bought him were stark white (already tinting green from the grass) and he had been allowed to write his name along the outer side of each one. The only socks he could find were a black one and a blue one. His father had shaken his head at his choice of socks, telling him that they’d go buy matching ones that night. Atreus had grinned at that, excitedly jumping out of the car and onto the concrete.

The park was rather large. A playset and some swings to their right and then a square mile field for soccer and other sports before them. Not to mention the basketball court. Atreus didn’t even know there was a park this big anywhere near his house and he was happy to get to play in it. 

He trailed behind Kratos as the man approached a woman only slightly shorter than him. Her hair was tied back in a few braids, decorated with beads and feathers. Atreus wanted to ask her to touch it but knew that was wrong, so he refrained from doing such a thing. “Freya, we spoke on the phone.” Kratos said, holding out his hand. 

The woman smiled wide, shaking his hand and looking down at Atreus. “You must be Kratos, hard to forget a voice like yours, which means you’re Atreus. Nice to meet you.”

“You too!” He said with a smile, peaking around her body to look at all the other boys messing around on the grass.

“You can go ahead and get warmed up Atreus, introduce yourself and whatnot.”

He nodded, jogging around her towards the other kids.

“Are you planning on staying throughout the whole practice?” Kratos nodded. He would do his best to be there every time Atreus had practice on his days off. He wanted to be a good father. Wanted to be around when his son needed him. “Great! You can go ahead and grab a seat on a bench over there by the concrete or just stand wherever you like – as long as it’s not in the kids’ way.” She gave him a small smile before parting to go get the boys ready.

Kratos stood right where he was, watching his son the whole time. Always aware of his surroundings. Always aware of the other parents. 

>>>>><<<<<

Atreus didn’t stop talking when he shoved mashed potatoes in his mouth. “And then there’s Magni and Modi, they’re brothers and they _never stop talking_ about how they’re so perfect in every way. Thankfully I met this other boy named Tyr and he shut them right up! You would like Tyr he’s straight to the point, like you.” Kratos nodded, listening intently to all the boys Atreus had met at his first soccer practice. “But Magni told me not to be friends with Tyr because he’s friends with the weird kids like Thyrm but I like Thyrm. And Tyr. Magni and Modi not so much. Did you talk to any of the parents?” Atreus spoke at a million miles a minute but Kratos was used to it and as long as he didn’t let his mind wander he wouldn’t ever get lost in his son’s excited monologue.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Wasn’t necessary.”

Atreus frowned, picking up the last bit of potatoes on his plate up and then walking his plate to the kitchen sink. He ran the water over the porcelain for a few seconds as he listened to his father begin to clear the table. “You should make more friends.” He mumbled.

“Feed the snake, take a shower, then go to bed.” Atreus frowned, deepening said frown when his father ruffled his hair (a habit he had only recently picked up).

“Fine.” He said, heading for the stairs and taking them two at a time. His room was illuminated with yellow light from the fluorescent bulb hanging above Jormungandr’s tank. He smiled at the serpent through the glass, waving his fingers at him, and removing the lamp from the top to set it on the floor. Removing the tank lid he let the serpent slowly slither it’s way over the brim of the tank and onto the table. Atreus picked him up, letting Jormungandr wrap his body lightly around his arm and rest his head against Atreus’ cheek. The boy laughed, running his fingers along the serpent’s body. 

Over the years his pet snake had grown rather large, almost as if he was growing right along with Atreus. At this point in the snake’s life he was long enough to slither from Kratos’ toes to his head without having to move his tail. “You hungry buddy?” The snake rubbed its face along Atreus’, a yes then.

He carefully, without dropping or disturbing the snake, walked over to the smaller tank that held a few mice. He reached in and grabbed one by the tail. He hung the small rodent in front of Jormungandr’s face and looked away for the split second it took the snake to swallow the mouse whole. With one final rubbing of cheeks, the snake went to go get back into his tank, obediently waiting for Atreus to close the lid once more. 

“Good boy Jormungandr,” the boy said, placing the lamp back on top. “Maybe one day father will let me take you for a walk. But he keeps saying that will scare the neighbors,” he whispered the next part. “Like they aren’t already terrified of us.”

>>>>><<<<<

Three weeks into going to soccer practice and a few games and Atreus had really blossomed. He was good at the game, energetic, and was happy if he won and not a brat if he lost. Kratos was glad to see that he was doing so well. Until one day when the two had argued about Atreus’ sudden attitude towards his fellow players. It had started as an offhand remark about how one of the younger boys was slower than the rest of them, how Atreus could run him over if he wasn’t careful. Then it escalated into Atreus telling Kratos how if he could he would replace his entire team and their ‘feeble bodies’ with a better more equipped team that could ‘keep up with’ him. 

Kratos had told him that a big head only ever led to bad decisions and broken relationships. Atreus hadn’t taken that very well.

He dropped his son off that day for practice during his lunchbreak, it being a weekday he had work to get to, and told Atreus to keep his attitude in check around Ms. Freya. The father and son duo and grown close with the woman and he was glad to see that Atreus had a strong female figure in his life. He didn’t want the boy pushing her away because of him. “Whatever.”

Kratos drove away with a pit in his stomach.

Atreus approached the field and started kicking up the grass. Freya saw him and jogged over. “Hey Atreus, ready to get started?”

“Why do I even have to practice? I’m already better at this sport than all the other kids. And I’m even better than you. _I_ should be the coach.”

Freya frowned. “That’s not the sort of attitude to have while you’re on a team Atreus.”

“Well maybe I don’t want to be on a team! I’m the best one here, I’d be much better of on my own.” He folded his arms over his chest with a huff. Freya sighed, already knowing how to deal with this.

“If that’s how you feel then maybe you should run laps for the whole practice.”

“That’s like a whole hour!”

She raised her brows. “I thought you were the best one here?”

Atreus attempted to stare her down. It didn’t work. He groaned as loud as he could, tightening his shoelaces and beginning the run around the park, sticking far away from the practice area. Struggling to cool down.

>>>>><<<<<

The man had walked out of the forest, which had made Atreus suspicious nervous from the start. He stopped his run and gave the stranger a once over. In his hand was a light blue dog leash. He tilted his head. “Can you help me? I lost my dog.” The man turned back to the forest, a worried look on his face. “Ratatoskr!” _Strange name for a dog,_ Atreus thought, looking around. He was kinda far from the practice area and his dad would be pissed if he ever found out Atreus talked to a stranger…but.

“I have a snake, I’d hate to lose him. I’ll help you find your dog. What’s he look like?”

“He’s brown, kinda small, I think he went this way, come on.” The man walked back into the forest whence he came. Atreus cast a final glance towards Freya and the other players. He’d be fine, if he got in a sticky situation he was fast. 

The boy followed the stranger into the dense trees.

>>>>><<<<<

When Kratos arrived back at the park only fifty-five minutes after he dropped Atreus off, he was hoping that Freya worked her magic and whipped his boy into shape. But when he stepped onto the grass he didn’t see his son. His ever-present frown deepened as he approached the coach. “Where’s Atreus?”

She turned to him. “I sent him to cool off some steam. He’s running the perimeter.” Kratos nodded.

He walked the perimeter slowly, careful to check everywhere he past. He called Atreus’ name a few times. 

It’s when he came across a discarded dog leash did he feel his heart pick up. It didn’t mean anything. But when he looked around and couldn’t see his boy within line of sight, or anywhere around the park, he couldn’t help his imagination. He walked the foot into the forest towards the dog leash, not touching it, and doing a once over of the area.

Broken branches. He took a few more steps.

Muddy footprints. Cleat footprints.

Five more steps.

A shoe.

Child’s size 7.

White.

With a name on the side.

“Atreus!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no who could possibly be the stranger I wonder who it is? Oh my how will we ever know. *sarcasm*
> 
> LMK what you think!
> 
> My [Tumblr](https://lilacsandpaper.tumblr.com/)!


	2. Investigations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kratos deals with the police.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m glad you guys like this story! I’m not sure how long it’ll be…haha….but I think I’ll probably need like 10-ish to maybe 15 chapters to get everything out. Also, to clarify, I might write Baldur as the bad guy, but he was honestly my favorite character from the new game, so just be aware that I have a bias when it comes to writing my sweet Nordic god. K bye x.

They search for fifteen minutes before Freya calls the police. She’s had her hand over her mouth for a while, unable to fathom what had happened. In her ten years of coaching soccer this had never happened. She had sent hundreds of kids to do laps by themselves for having a bad attitude. And just one went missing. Atreus.

She held still as Kratos came up from his third run of the perimeter, his eyes dancing all around, chest rising and falling quickly. He approached with clenched fists and a tight jaw, his usual calm demeanor gradually shedding away the longer Atreus isn’t standing in front of him. “You let him go out on his own?” He hissed at Freya, his instinct telling him to choke her but the reasonable part of his brain told him he needed to reel himself in. 

“I-I do it all the time. It’s a disciplinary technique, this has never happened before – Kratos, we’ll find him. We’ll find him. He’s probably just wandered off. It’s gonna be okay.”

He growled low in his throat, stomping past her towards where the rest of the parents were standing. The police had requested that none of them leave, for obvious reasons, and Kratos was going to keep an eye on all of them. At the moment they were all the enemy. 

The police arrived minutes later, lights flashing but with no sirens. Kratos leaned up against his car and kept his eye on the officers as they jogged up toward Freya. She shook hands with the first officer that she saw, a red haired young woman with wide shoulders and well fitting blue uniform. “Are you the woman that called?” Freya nodded. “I’m Captain Skoll, my partner here is Sargent Hati, where are the child’s parents?” 

Freya pointed at Kratos. “That’s Atreus’ father.”

The female officer nodded and headed towards the seething man, making sure to side step the eggshells that man was clearly laying down. Skoll introduced herself again, lowering her hand when Kratos didn’t move to shake it. “We’re going to everything to find your son, is his mother nearby?”

“Fa- his mother has passed.”

She nodded. “And do you know what he was wearing?”

Kratos described the soccer uniform, and his shoes. Told her he found one of the boy’s shoes in the forest nearby and he left it where it was. She nodded, making a mental note to find the shoe as quickly as possible. “What do you need me to do?” 

“For right now just sit tight. My partner is going to take your information down and I’m going to call a squad out here to sweep the area.” She offered a small smile. 

It didn’t do much to calm Kratos’ nerves. “I could ‘sweep the area’ myself. What are you going to do to find my son?”

“I’m going to everything I can. For right now you need to stay put. Stay out of the investigation so I can do my job.” Her voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. Kratos wanted to argue, but before he could get a word out the police officer was running towards the direction Kratos pointed at. He ran his hands over his face.

Sargent Hati came to write down all of Kratos’ information, taking the man’s license and scribbling down all the important info before tucking the ID in his back pocket. “You’ll get it back when you’re exonerated.”

“Exonerated?” Kratos had to suppress the urge to body slam the officer. “I would never hurt my son, I have no reason to stage a kidnapping, how dare-,”

“Sir, this is just how things work. I’m going to interview the rest of the parents here, you’re welcome to stand here and do nothing or sit in the back of my cruiser. Your choice.”

>>>>><<<<<

They made him ride home in a police cruiser, promising that they’d get his car back to the house in no time. Clearly they didn’t trust him, and while it may have been getting under his skin, he knew it best to cooperate. The more he helped the police the faster Atreus would be found.

They had also made Freya ride to the police station, giving Kratos the promise that they wouldn’t let her go until they were sure she wasn’t involved. He felt a little better about that, but deep down he knew she wasn’t at fault.

Captain Skoll and Sargent Hati had been the ones to escort him to his house and been the ones to begin the investigation. Skoll picked up a few photos off the mantle, both photos of Atreus and his mom. She set them down to pick up the one family photo. Her eyes glanced over to Kratos who was sitting at the kitchen table. “Just one family photo?”

“I wasn’t around much.”

She set the photo back down. “But you are now,”

“Yes.”

“Would Atreus go off with someone he didn’t know?”

“Not likely.”

Hati raised his brows. “But he might?”

“If there were special circumstances. Maybe.” Kratos placed his head in his hands, knee bouncing only slightly under the table.

“Special circumstances?”

He let out a breath through his nose, telling himself to calm down. “Atreus is…kind.”

Kratos was about to go on when the front door burst open. Skoll reached for her side arm, Hati did the same. They both relaxed when they recognized the man in the door way. “Odinson.”

The man at the door was large in stature, slightly taller than Kratos, and with long blonde hair tied back into a bun. His face was stoic and his shoulders were pulled back in a display of dominance. Kratos stood from the table. The man approached him, hand extended, and plastered a smile on his face. From his peripheral Kratos could tell both officers he had already been cooperating with were displeased by his presence. “Mr. Sparta, I’m Detective Thor Odinson, head of your son’s case.” Kratos nodded, shaking the man’s hand. “I’ve brought with me a child psychologist, he’ll be interviewing you, looking at Atreus’ room, and interviewing all adults in Atreus’ life.”

Thor turned around, expecting the ‘child psychologist’ to be there, and frowned when he wasn’t.

“Excuse me for a moment.” The detective stomped out of the house, throwing the door open and standing on the porch. He yelled something, then walked back into the house, this time with a bald man in tow.

Kratos wouldn’t say by first glance the man was a therapist, but who was he to judge? The bald man’s shiny head was donned with plenty of tattoos and his eyes where hazel bordering on yellow. When he smiled his teeth looked as if they might just fall straight out of his head. “Names Mimir brother, where’s the little one’s room?”

“Upstairs, I will show you.”

Mimir (techinically Dr. Mimir, but when Kratos had tried to call him that he had refused the honorific) entered the rooms with his arms outspread. He did a small circle, scanning all of the walls, eyes landing on the snake tank. “Little brother likes serpents, does he?”

“Yes. He’s had the snake for a while.”

The doctor looked around the tank, finding the sticker with the pet’s name on it. “Jor..mun..gand..er.” He read aloud. “Quite the strange name for a pet,” he moved on to the boy’s desk. “No drawings, no writings. The tyke isn’t creative at all?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“No. I-,” Kratos didn’t actually know if Atreus was creative. Maybe he was.

“Photos of his mother along his dresser, they were close?”

“Very.”

“And one photo of you,” he picked it up, showing it to Kratos. “How old was he here?”

Kratos glanced down. “A few months.”

Mimir hummed, setting the photo down and taking a seat at the small computer chair under the desk. “So, Mr. Sparta,” he spat out the name like it burnt him. “What do you do for a living?”

“Security.”

“And before that? Obviously little brother’s father wasn’t around much, or else there’d be more recent photos of you two, maybe a few toys you gave him.” He gestured to the corner of the room where Atreus kept his toys neatly in a wooden box. “Action figures, stuffed animals, a few HotWheels. Those are toys a mother gives her son. Metal model planes, wooden trains, those are the things a father gets his son. But I see none of that around. So, Mr. Sparta, I ask you again, what did you do for a living?”

He felt his whole face twitch in anger. “I was a soldier.”

“Ahhhh, that explains some of it.” Mimir bounced up from the chair, much quicker than his elderly body should’ve been able to move. “Why don’t we explore the rest of the house?”

>>>>><<<<<

Taking a step back away from the corkboard, Thor admired his handiwork. A photo of the missing child was in the center and off from it were photos of his friends and family. Of course, once he looked to the family side of the board he frowned. There was a photo (taken just that day) of the boy’s father and then next to that was an older photo of the boy’s mother. Quite bare, if you asked him. He made a mental note to interrogate the father later about that.

On the ‘friends’ side was a web of photos of both the soccer coach and all the parents who also had children on the team. And while this was good information to have, Thor had a feeling none of them were involved. He didn’t think the father was involved either, but he had a feeling a member of his family might be. If not, then they’d have a stranger abduction on their hands.

Thor pulled out his phone, opening the clock app, and setting a timer. They had forty-eight hours, three of which had already been wasted so it was more like forty-five, to find that boy. And if they didn’t…he put his phone back in his pocket. He’d need to call in some help if he was going to do this. 

“Better ask the chief…” he mumbled, heading out of the conference room and for his father’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll liked this! I'm doing my best to stick to real life police procedures but I'm bound to get some of it wrong. Oh well.
> 
> My [Tumblr](https://lilacsandpaper.tumblr.com/)!


	3. Interrogations

**COUNTDOWN: 43:09:36**

Kratos tapped his toes impatiently on the floor. They had pulled him into the station once they were done searching his house and he knew they did it to ensure he wouldn’t go off on his own searching for his son. And they were right to do that. Had he been left alone Kratos would’ve been knocking on everyone’s door in a ten-mile radius and pushing his way inside. 

The door opened and Kratos sat up, stopping his foot from tapping. “Hi,” it was the detective from earlier. Kratos searched for his name. “I’ve spoken with the police chief and he agrees that since we’re looking at a public abduction there’s a pretty good chance it was done by someone you don’t know. Meaning we have a pretty intense time limit.” He sat down across from the father. “So, I’ve called in the bureau to assist. They’re sending an eight man team over as quickly as they can.”

“Hmm.”

“They’ll be in charge of profiling the kidnapper. And finding your son.”

“Wouldn’t man power be more important than…profiling?”

The detective shook his head. “Not exactly. We’ll be able to narrow down who might’ve done it with…” he waved his hand around. “The things we know about him right now.”

“Know about him?” Kratos leaned onto the table. “The man took my son unseen. There’s nothing _known_ about him.”

“Well,” Thor said, his voice grating. “The dog leash at the scene says a lot more than you think.”

>>>>><<<<<  
**COUNTDOWN: 41:40:10**

Atreus woke up on a concrete floor, sitting up on his hands and rubbing his temples. He knew he shouldn’t have followed that asshole. That’s the last time he tries to do something nice for anyone. Ever. At least as long as he’s not carrying a god damn pocket knife. 

His soccer uniform was dirty, but still on, but he _was_ missing his shoes. And socks. _So I can’t run away_ he thought, standing. The floor was cold and the room was rather dark, the only light coming through a small window in what Atreus assumed to be a door. He carefully slid his feet over to it, fearing that the man who took might’ve put glass or something on the floor. 

When he got to the door he was just barely tall enough to see through the almost opaque window. He jerked back when he saw the man come into view. He couldn’t tell where he was, but by the looks of it he was underground. When the man didn’t open the door or approach it, Atreus leaned over to look back outwards. The stranger was pacing, back and forth, until a phone ringed.

The man’s face instantly scrunched up to a look of disgust as he answered the phone. “Took you long enough.”

Atreus could only hear one half of the conversation, but he figured if the stranger was taking a phone call five steps away from his ‘cell’ then it must be about him.

“What do you mean busy? I have the little shit in my warehouse.” A glance over at the cell. Atreus ducked backed. “No, he’s still out.”

A heartbeat.

“Can’t keep him that way forever. Just give me the greenlight and the kid’s body is in the lake.”

Shit, that’s not good. The man wasn’t blinking an eye at the idea of killing him. He shuddered.

“How am I supposed to calm down, my ass is on the line, not yours!”

The man’s pacing picked up again.

“You have three days. Three days before I gut the boy. Get your ducks in a row.” He hung up and turned back towards Atreus.

As quickly as his body would let him, the boy fell to the floor and rearranged himself back into the position he had woken up in. The door slid open just a crack. A huff. Then a scoff. Then the door closed again. Atreus let out a sigh. He had three days. 

He could do it.

>>>>><<<<<

**COUNTDOWN: 36:58:25**

“I know how to get to my own room.” Kratos snapped, causing the young officer to shrink back, nod, and head back downstairs. They might be able to keep him locked up in his house, but he’d be damned if he allowed them to babysit him.

Once in his room, Kratos closed and locked the door, heading for his dresser. He pulled the bottom drawer out, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was in the room with him. Underneath a few shirts he hadn’t worn in years was a green ammo box. He lifted the lid off, checking over his shoulder one last time, and pulled out black pistol. He set that one to the side and reached back in to remove a second one. He tucked them both into his jeans.

He lifted his bedroom window, swinging one leg out, then the next, and dropped down the ten feet into the bushes below his window. Cops were patrolling the front of his house so he’d have to find a way out through the backyard. Crouching along the side of his fence he made his way to the back of the yard. Kratos checked over his shoulder.

Once over the back part of his fence he ran across his neighbor’s yard to get the front of the house and onto the street. His neighborhood was fairly close to the city and the park in which Atreus was last seen. He headed for the park.

He didn’t have the time or the privacy to conduct his own investigation before the police showed up and he was going to be damned if he let those _bozos_ investigate the disappearance of his son without his involvement.

Kratos heard the car pull up beside him and grimaced, glancing over his shoulder to make note of the license plate. The car revved its engine, pulling up to be riding in front of Kratos. When the window rolled down he couldn’t help but grumble. “From what I understand you’re under house arrest brother.”

“It’s not house arrest.”

Mimir pulled his car over and unlocked his doors. “Hop in, I’ll take you where you need to go.”

“And why should I trust you?”

“Because you have no one else to trust. And I know a few things you don’t.” He sighed when Kratos just stared at him. He lifted his cell phone. “Or I could just call the police chief, got him on speed dial.” That did the trick.

“Tell me.”

“Huh?”

“You said you know things I do not. Tell me what they are.”

>>>>><<<<<

**COUNTDOWN: 30:09:29**

Odin rested his jacket across the back of his chair, turning his computer on and glancing out his window towards the bullpen. His son made eye contact with him and he gestured for the Thor to come to his office. His son shut and locked the door behind him out of habit. “Any word on the news about the missing boy?”

“They asked for an interview with the father, but I don’t think he’s going to do it.”

“What officer did you put in charge?”

“Myself. Took Skoll and Hati off the case.”

Odin raised a brow, then nodded approvingly. “Good, you’re the only one I trust for a case so delicate.”


	4. Agents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The FBI arrives. Kratos gets little sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up in a cold sweat to write this. It's not very good. Enjoy.

**COUNTDOWN: 29:56:00**

The air in the station shifts to one of authority the moment the elevators open to reveal the special FBI team that had been assigned the case. In reality, Captain Odin hadn’t wanted outside involvement, his people would take care of the case just fine. But with the light the media shinned on him and his police force, he figured it better to have an extra fall guy.

Standing from his desk, Odin left his office and grabbed his son by the arm, dragging Thor out of his seat and walking towards the approaching flock of FBI agents. To his surprise, they were all women. Each one speaking to the others, conversations bouncing around as they walked into the bullpen. He made sure to put on his best smile before greeting them.

“You must the be the FBI agents were called for, I’m the captain around here, this is my son, Thor, he’s the lead on this case.” He lifted his hand, attempting to shake hands with the woman at the front of the group. “Pleasure to meet you.”

She smiled, shaking his hand in turn. “You as well. I’m Rota, these are my colleagues. You’ll learn their names as we go along. Do you mind showing us to a conference room so we can get started?” He nodded and led them all further into the station. “We’d also like access to all your case files, both in paper form and in electronic so we can send it back to our supervisors in Quantico.”

“Your team lead isn’t here?”

“Sigrun is busy with more high-profile cases. But rest assured, we eight are a formidable force. We will find your missing child and the man who took him as quickly as possible. You have my word.”

**COUNTDOWN: 29:54:34**

The door finally opened after what felt like a full day of sitting the semi-darkness. Atreus tugged his knees to his chest and scooted away from the sliding metal slab, not wanting to get caught off guard. The man who entered the room was the same one he had seen pace right outside he door on multiple occasions. He was taller than Atreus, but by a single glance the boy could tell he was shorter than his father. He was shirtless, which was new, but his stark white skin wasn’t left bare. Instead it was littered with blue tattoos that moved when he flexed.

Atreus slid up the wall, pulling himself to his feet. The man tilted his head, as if he was assessing the child before him. “Are you scared?”

“Not of you.” He blurted out, unable to stop himself from saying what his father might.

“Oh,” the man said, a smile splitting his face as he shook his head. “You will be.” The man took another step towards him, careful and precise. Atreus pushed his back harder against the wall. “But don’t worry, we have quite a lot of time to get to all the _fun_.” He let out a sigh. “For now, I’m supposed to,” he waved his hand around. “Make sure you don’t die. So, mac and cheese or ramen?”

The question caught Atreus so off guard he couldn’t answer until the stranger yelled out a ‘huh?’ and startled him enough to process what just happened. “Um, ramen I guess?”

The stranger nodded. “Okay.”

“Who are you?”

“Does it matter?”

Atreus nodded. “I’d like to put a name to a face.” The man continued to ignore him. “If you don’t tell me I’ll just take a guess.” More silence. “You like the name Tim? I like the name Tim. How’s that work for you, eh Tim?”

The stranger laughed and Atreus felt his face go red from anger, his mind racing with images of what he wants him and his father to do to him.

“You sure are annoying, I’ll give you that.” He took a step outside the cell. As he pulled the door shut, Atreus heard him say his name. Crisp and clear like water from the cleanest mountain rivers. “Baldur.”

**COUNTDOWN: 27:05:24**

Mimir set a mug down next to Kratos, holding his own as he rounded the table. They had been sitting in Mimir’s dining room for the last eight hours sucking down pot after pot of coffee, digging through old case files and prior arrest records. When Kratos had asked the psychologist how he had gotten ahold of the files, the man had just grinned and murmured something about being close with those in charge. Kratos didn’t question further.

Kratos grabbed the cup and drank it all in one go, not at all bothered by the heat. “Where’s the files on officers?”

“Officers? You mean the police?” Mimir sat down on the other side of the table, facing the other man. “Well I don’t have any of those here, I don’t think I’m even allowed to look at ‘em. You think one of the cops coulda done it?”

“Absolutely. Never trust those in power.”

Mimir hummed in acknowledgement. “Then I’ll get those files for ya.” 

They managed to get through another fifteen files on registered sexual predators and people with priors of child abuse, before there was a knock on the door. Mimir stood from the table, taking one last sip from his mug, and running for the door. 

He faked a smile at the sight of the lead detective on the case. “Thor! How…good to see you.”

“He’s here isn’t here?” He looked over Mimir’s shoulder. The psychologist sighed and nodded, moving to the side. “We told him not to leave.” The detective grumbled, stomping into the dining room. The sight of the hundreds of case and personnel files alarmed him, his pace slowing as he reached a hand out to touch one of the many manila folders. “I see you’ve been busy.”

“Hmm, yes.”

“Thought profiling was useless?” Thor said with a small smile.

“Not profiling. Narrowing down the suspect pool.”

“And how are you doing that amongst child predators?”

Kratos sighed, setting down the file in his hand. “Excluding all women, non-white men, and anyone over five-foot-ten, there are a total of thirty-six potential soon-to-be dead men who took my boy.” 

“You were doing all that?” Mimir said, peaking over the man’s shoulder at the seemingly chaotic pile of folders. “Impressive.”

“Five-foot-ten?” Thor asked.

“Shoe imprints were too small for a man over that height.”

“And no women?”

“Men’s shoes. Sure a woman could be wearing them, but the wide gait tells me it must be a man.” Kratos dug underneath all the papers of crime reports and mugshots to pull out a few photos.

Thor picked them up, flipping through them with his thumb. “These were taken at the park. At the crime scene.”

“Yes.”

“You measured the distance between footprints?”

“Yes.”

Thor nodded, setting the photos back down. “I guess you’re more resourceful than I gave you credit for. Clearly you’ve done half of my job for me.” Thor started to pile all the papers together. “Let’s get these all back to the station, get more eyes on them.”

A hand reached out and grabbed the detective’s wrist, stopping him from moving his arm. “Where are the files on your police officers?” Thor attempted to pull his arm away. Kratos tightened his grip.

“The only people who have access to those files are myself and my father.”

“Who are you hiding?” Kratos stood, sliding his chair back.

“No one.”

“Who are you protecting?”

Thor put his hand on Kratos’ chest and pushed, separating the two. He took another step back, out of Kratos’ reach. “You will conduct yourself properly in my presence or I will lock you out of this case completely. You’re lucky I didn’t walk in here with an ankle bracelet.”

With that, Thor left. Leaving the files behind. Mimir locked the door behind the detective. “You sure got a set on you brother, talking to the son of the police captain like that. Although I’d venture that after all these years, he deserves to hear it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my [Tumblr](https://lilacsandpaper.tumblr.com/) it's mostly garbage and fandom posts of things I like. Toodaloo.


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